Drowned Pyrrhia
Drowned Pyrrhia is an AU created by DarkusDragon, StarlessSilver and Solstinox. Critique and comments are greatly appreciated! Feel free to make a character within this AU, but please notify me if you do so. History In 5,043 A.S., the SeaWings were ruled by Queen Auklet, with two daughters eligible to take the throne. The year previously, Princess Teleost had challenged the queen for the throne, but she had failed and lost her life. When great flooding started throughout Pyrrhia, Queen Auklet was called out to help provide aid for the other tribes, but her escort was attacked by the more opportunistic SeaWings that had taken advantage of the floods to raid other tribes, and the Queen was never seen again. Princess Sixgill was unwilling to take the throne during such troubled times, so Princess Submerge was the one to become Queen. During the years that followed, the SeaWing's territorry grew unbelievably - but every other tribe was suffering. The floods that Queen Auklet had been trying to aid with had not stopped, and most of Pyrrhia was now completely underwater, with only the mountains in the Sky and Ice Kingdoms remaining above the water level. Countless dragons had drowned, and the majority of the survivors had fled to the Sky Kingdom's mountains, where room was starting to grow scarce. The majority of livestock animals and fruit-bearing trees had perished in the flood, and fishing groups were having to move out further and further for fear of causing a local extinction near the settlements. Relief came in the form of the IceWings - the tribe's frostbreath allowed them to create giant sheets of ice that worked as rafts, allowing them to escape the worst of the flooding. Colder currents now allowed them to move towards the other tribes to provide their aid. These ice rafts were the best thing to happen up until that point - they were far easier to make and repair than wooden ones, and they were harder for pirates to attack. These rafts allowed dragons to go out further to fish, effectively preventing the threat of starvation. Now, in 5,050 A.S, the tribes have settled into an uneasy way of living. However, many dragons still pray that the water will recede once more. The tribes |-|SeaWings= Current Queen: Queen Submerge The SeaWings are easily the tribe doing the best after the floods - land that is completely uninhabitable for the other tribes is easy for them to navigate in, causing most of Pyrrhia to be unofficially declared SeaWing territory. Most SeaWings nowadays aren't concerned with the dragons living on the remaining land, and prefer to stay to themselves underwater. However, these are a number of them that have taken advantage of the floods to enact on grudges held against dragons of other tribes, or who aren't happy with divers being sent down into what they consider their land. Though these pirates make up a small amount of the total population, they still rival most of the remaining population, and are a major threat. Another number of SeaWings have decided to provide their services to help the other tribes, but most don't care for the risk associated with that. Queen Submerge is ultimately unable to keep control of so much territory, and only really provides her services as Queen to the dragons living closest to her in her palace, and even then she's rarely heard from. As such, many SeaWings living away from her are resentful, and feel that Sixgill would make a better queen. There are rumours spreading through the SeaWings that Queen Submerge is responsible for the floods, saying that she's secretly an animus or was able to convince one. The validity of this rumour is unconfirmed, but it continues to spread despite the efforts of dragons loyal to her to stop it. |-|SkyWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll The SkyWings are the second most prosperous tribe after the floods - the dragons that stay in their mountains do so for a small fee. They are one of the only two tribes in the mountains that still have their own Queen: the other tribes agreed to be ruled by the SkyWings when they entered the mountains. Most SkyWings don't venture out onto the sea, preferring to stay in the mountains that they grew up in. The vast majority of the tribe are merchants or farmers, though many are also working on construction projects to try and create homes more suited to the dragons they now share their land with. The palace, while still serving as a home for Queen Blackpoll and her family and guards, is also something of a charity center. Large amounts of the food brought in by fishing are brought straight to the palace, where dragons in need of the food are able to take a small portion (with guards watching to make sure that nobody takes more than their fair share). Non-fish meat is considered a delicacy, since floods killed most herds kept by the dragons. Although it may be possible to buy a goat or two for a special occasion, most prefer not to spend so much on so little food. The farmers have a general consensus that everyone can start eating meat when the sources of it stop being endangered Queen Blackpoll tries her hardest to keep everyone in her kingdom happy, and is considered to be a good queen by the vast majority, but the years of stress have tired her out. The only thing stopping her from handing the throne over to the first dragon who wants it is the fear of another ruler being incompetent (that, and the fact that Thaw would probably kill her for it). She's even scared of messing up herself, and most of her decisions are run through a council of dragons from each tribe, to try and make sure that she's pleasing as many dragons as possible and not making a terrible mistake out of stress. |-|IceWings= Current Queen: Queen Thaw Although a decent amount of IceWings have settled down in the mountains or chosen to remain in the waters where their kingdom used to be, the majority of them continue to travel on their ice rafts, albeit with more passengers from other tribes than they had before. They are an essential part of any team that ventures out on the waters. The concept of IceWing superiority has been forgotten by most of the tribe - most IceWing dragonets have grown up surrounded by the other tribes, and those who had grown up with it were (mostly) willing to forsake it for their own survival. IceWing culture nowadays focuses more on the importance of teamwork, rather than the previous generations' mentality of 'every man for himself'. Hybrids have become more common since the floods started, but in the last two years half-IceWing hybrids have become the most numerous out of them. Queen Thaw has helped Blackpoll rule since the IceWings arrived at the SkyWing mountains - unlike other tribes, the IceWings still had enough power to rule themselves. While Blackpoll is constantly making sure everything's working as it should be, Thaw is the more social of the Queens, and is the one who makes the most public appearances. If a dragon requires a hearing or a dispute comes to the palace, Thaw will often be the one to take care of it. Thaw was the one who had the idea of a council - she thought that it would be more helpful to try and listen to all tribes' complaints at once, rather than picking one at a time and risking being accused of favouritism. Outside of Queenly business, Thaw and Blackpoll are good friends. Thaw often worries for the SkyWing's health though, and there are several guards in the palace with orders to force her to rest if needs be. |-|NightWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll Though the NightWings were the only tribe prepared for the flood, they suffered the worst losses. NightWings are nearly extinct, and are generally treated with disdain by dragons who were alive when the floods started. NightWing seers had seen the waters rising months before they actually happened, and the entire tribe rushed to prepare - anyone not working on boats was creating waterproof pouches or gathering food to preserve. When the flood did arrive, the NightWings suffered the fewest losses - and the other tribes were bitter about it. Dragons from other tribes argued that the NightWings should have warned them, and some even said that the fact they weren't warned meant that the NightWings intended for everyone else to drown. Everyone wanted to be able to blame something, and NightWings quickly became their scapegoat, even for things that took place after the flood. Most NightWings left the mountains shortly after they arrived, either due to being chased away or just being fed up with the constant hostility directed towards them. Their boats were seaworthy enough, but they were easy pickings for SeaWing pirates - they weren't in very large groups and they hadn't kept most of what wasn't edible or worth something. Even worse for the NightWings, they couldn't slip into the water to escape if they were wounded like the SeaWings could, and their boats moved more slowly than their attackers. Few NightWings made it back to the mountains once they left. Moonborn NightWings are a rarity - those with these abilities were especially hated in the early days of the floods, and most eggs are kept inside for fear of a storm or some other natural phenomenon taking them. Only a handful of NightWings possess moonborn abilities, and this number doesn't seem set to increase any time soon. Although there aren't any dragons calling to throw them out nowadays, the average NightWing can expect several shifty glares thrown their way on a daily basis, though Pantalan dragons still refer to them with a good deal of respect. The NightWings in Queen Blackpoll's council are fairly paranoid, and phrase most of what they say incredibly carefully - they give the impression that they think one wrong sentence will cause angry mobs to materialise again. |-|RainWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll RainWings are another tribe that has suffered heavy losses, though the cause is quite different from the other tribes. When the floods came, the RainWings were able to quickly throw together rafts that, while not terribly seaworthy, floated and didn't immediately fall apart. The problem they faced came in the form of their new diet - the tribe, while omnivorous like the others, was mostly used to eating fruit, most of which was now beneath several metres of water. Their new diet mostly consisted of fish, and the fruit that they were so used to was now a luxury that few could afford. Many RainWings fell ill from ingesting food that was filled with bacteria foreign to their systems, and few who got sick recovered. Hybrids within the tribe fared better, but purebred RainWings had their numbers effectively quartered. RainWings are extremely protective of the fruit-baring trees that remain in the mountains, and several of them work in orchards: either working with the trees or keeping a lookout for anyone who tries to steal food. Most of these trees were planted by them and haven't had the time to fully grow, and nobody wants a potential future food source sabotaged by someone not listening to them. Intruders can expect themselves to be tackled by a previously invisible RainWing, then given a stern lecture and escorted back to the nearest residence. Though the RainWings have kept their more easygoing nature compared to the other tribes, they have managed to lose the stereotype of laziness, and are mostly organised and hard workers - they can be invaluable on the ice rafts, as their colour changing can allow them to send urgent messages to other rafts. Other dragons can find it calming to have a RainWing around - just the presence of a more relaxed dragon can help them feel less on edge. |-|MudWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll The MudWings were completely unprepared for the floods - their wetland home was good at handling excess water, so flooding was rarely a problem for them, and a small one when it was. The MudWings' natural strength and ability to hold their breaths gave them an advantage when the waters came, but the only ones who made it to the mountains were the ones living closest, the strongest and the lucky. Several of the dragons most vocal against the NightWings were MudWings - these were the dragons that had lost their siblings in the floods, and felt that they weren't given a fighting chance. Many of them barely made it themselves, and their survival rate would have been much higher had the NightWings bothered to give them a warning. These resentments still exist today, though time has given these wounds some time to scab over - NightWings certainly aren't liked as a whole, but some MudWings have been able to befriend some, and they're not getting random accusations thrown at them in the street as often. Aside from their dislike of the NightWings, the MudWings are a stable part of the community. Groups of sibs who made it out of the flood quickly grew larger, taking in either unsibs or dragons from other tribes who had lost those close to them. These groups gave dragons who had lost their homes a new place to belong, and MudWings became the dragons that almost anyone could go to if they needed a helping hand. MudWings make good divers on the ice rafts, and on the mountains their strength has many uses, from guarding farms against intruders to helping build houses. These groups of hard workers can be seen as inspirations by other dragons, and they're a large help in keeping local communities friendly. The MudWings on Blackpoll's council are most concerned with building a sense of trust between the tribes - things can't improve if everyone's on edge about each other all the time. |-|SandWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll The SandWings are another tribe that didn't fare well - their mostly flat territory meant that the water was able to advance quickly, and the few materials suitable for making rafts were quickly snatched up and fought over. Those that made it to the mountains weren't as dehydrated as others when they arrived, but that's the only advantage they held over the other tribes at the time. Out of the tribes living under the SkyWings' protection, SandWings are probably the most independent - while MudWings will help out with projects, it's usually a SandWing who started it in the first place. SandWing traders are not an uncommon sight, and many of them have stuck deals with the crews of ice rafts - they get the first pick at anything scavenged out at sea, and the other dragons get a discount on any other wares they may be interested in. Some of these SandWings also keep an eye out for any possible habitable land, and will pay crews to keep a look out and report anything to them before the Queens. The motivations of these dragons can vary - it could be in case of overpopulation, or they could simply want the land for themselves. Whatever the reason, they are generally seen as eccentrics by the rest of the population - new land would be a big deal, there's no point in paying for news you'd definitely get otherwise. In recent years, SandWing music has become more popular, especially among dragonets, and musical festivals are occasionally held within settlements. There are plans for a larger, annual one currently being managed by Queen Thaw. The ideas put forward by the SandWings on Blackpoll's council mostly concern housing - the mountains are getting crowded, and most dragons are more comfortable in a less rocky environment. |-|SilkWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll Pantala's flat landscape meant that it flooded quickly, and the lack of trees made making rafts harder than it was on Pyrrhia. The ones that made it to the other continent were rather shoddy - pieces of treestuff held together by silk. The arrival of the Pantalan dragons was an event that startled many - the continent wasn't even known to exist, so the arrival of several tribes from it was an understandable surprise. However, once the initial shock had passed, they were accepted as any other dragon - the Pyrrhians had no reason to dislike them, so they were allowed to stay. The SilkWings' ability to weave has made them useful for many things - their silk has many uses, most of which are practical. Fishing nets can be made using SilkWing silk, meaning that the dragons on the mountains can rely on the rafts for food less than they initially did. These nets are just as useful on the rafts, but this isn't the only reason a SilkWing will be employed - their silk can also make good bandages in a pinch, and tying salvaged items together can make storing them easier. The SilkWings on Blackpoll's council are mostly concerned with ensuring enough supplies to keep things running smoothly - when they object to another council member's idea, the reason is usually that it would be too expensive to go through with. |-|HiveWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll Only a small number of HiveWings made it to the mountains and like the other Pantalans, they were thankful both for being allowed to stay and for encountering the mountains in the first place. Like the IceWings, HiveWing culture has changed significantly thanks to the flooding. With cooperation now necessary for either of them to survive, SilkWings stood on more even footing while travelling on the treestuff rafts, and this change has lasted even after they arrived at the mountains. A number of HiveWings have had difficulties adjusting to this change, but for the most part, SilkWings and LeafWings are treated considerably better than they were back on Pantala. HiveWings' varying abilities make them suited for varying tasks, and the Pyrrhian tribes have taken great interest in them. As such, HiveWings can be found taking up practically any job imaginable, whether on the mountains or out on the ice rafts. The HiveWings on Blackpoll's council have yet to put forward any of their own ideas, instead making their opinions known on those proposed by others. They seem to have a great interest in Pyrrhian culture, but for the most part they're reclusive dragons. |-|LeafWings= Current Queen: Queen Blackpoll With their numbers small before the floods even began, very few LeafWings managed to make it onto the rafts. It's rare to encounter one - they're the only tribe that the NightWings can claim to have a larger population than. Unlike the SilkWings and HiveWings, most LeafWings were content with not making a big impression when they arrived. While they still received attention, it wasn't as much as the tribes they arrived with, leaving them to settle in while the others were still the center of everyone's attention. With their natural affinity for plants, most settled in tending to the orchards like the RainWings, although with a noticeably worse temper. While a RainWing who catches anyone messing around with their plants will normally let them off with a stern lecture, many LeafWings are okay sending an intruder off with several scratches as a warning. HiveWings are generally hated, though they tend to try and stay out of each other's way for the most part. On Blackpoll’s council, the LeafWing members believe in strict enforcement of the laws set up after the floods - although killing rulebreakers is off the table, the punishment they receive will still be harsh. Life on rafts The IceWing rafts are vital for dragons living in Pyrrhia now - they may not be as pretty as a boat made of wood, but they're much easier to make and harder to damage. Without them, getting food would be impossible without wiping out all local populations of fish, and the dragons in the mountains would have starved long ago if the IceWings hadn't arrived. To dissuade attacks from SeaWing pirates, these rafts often travel in groups, normally only a few seconds of flight away from each other. Navigating like this can be a pain, but it's preferable to being outnumbered and killed. Because of this danger, a dragonet born on land must be at least three years old before they're allowed out on sea. Many jobs are worked by dragons on the rafts, several of which require a dragon from a specific tribe to take them up. Some of the more important jobs are as follows: Captains Each raft has a captain. This dragon - usually an IceWing - is in charge of what happens on their raft. Divers have to receive their captain's permission before they go down, and the groups they go in will be decided by their captain as well. It is the captain's job to make decisions - who has which sleep shift, what direction they go in, how much longer they should be out for before heading back, and so on. The job can be stressful, and most captains have taken on their role since the early times of the flood. Typically, they will pick a dragon that they trust to share some of their duties and decisions with, to give someone else experience with taking up their role in case they are killed or become incapacitated. A captain should have a level head, and be able to set their own biases aside when making decisions - mistakes out at sea can lead to injuries, or even be fatal in a worst-case scenario. Any dragon who buckles under pressure should not attempt to take up this role. Divers This job is fairly self-explanatory - divers swim underwater to see what they can salvage, whether it be their next meal or anything of value that was lost in the floods. Old settlements are generally good places for dives, seeing as most dragons were only able to take a handful of possessions with them. Any items recovered by divers are kept to be sold later, or restored, if it's considered significant (for example, a statue of an important historical figure). Diving is one of the most dangerous jobs available, due to the chance of being attacked while underwater, and the ever-present threat of drowning. SeaWings' gills and glowstripes mean that they can't drown and they can provide visibility for other dragons, making them ideal divers. If no purebred SeaWings are available, then MudWings or a hybrid with the blood of either tribe are generally considered the best to lead a dive. When diving was still new, there was a much larger problem with pirates than there is now - instead of having to fight, SeaWing pirates could simply surround a diver and wait for them to drown. Because of this, divers have to go down in groups, with the dragon capable of surviving underwater the longest leading the way. Guards These dragons spend most of their time on the edges of their raft, keeping an eye out for any potential threat, whether it be a large rock in their path or approaching pirates. These could be potentially catastrophic, and a guard who sees any such threat can choose to warn the captain to change their path or gather more guards to try and remove it. Since there always needs to be someone keeping watch, guards take shifts - one will spend a certain number of hours a day keeping watch, before another comes to take their position. An off-duty guard is free to do whatever they want, but they will be expected to help take care of smaller jobs like anyone else. Guards are most often SandWings, SkyWings, IceWings, or one of the few remaining NightWings - the majority of RainWings are still a peace-loving species, and SeaWings and MudWings are considered more useful as divers. Guards often form fast friendships with one another - their hours on watch can be uneventful, so they will start to talk to one another, or make up games to pass the time. This is normally okay, but there are stern consequences for anyone who gets too distracted by this and lets something slip by. Cooks Although this role isn't necessary, most rafts have at least one dragon who takes up the role of their local chef. After all, eating nothing but plain fish gets boring quickly, and it's rare for anything else to be caught - if you're lucky, you might get the occasional bird, but that's about it. Having another dragon make your food more bearable isn't something many argue against. Anything edible caught by divers will be given to the raft's cook for preparation, and as such, they generally hold a lot of power in their raft - get on one's bad side, and you may find yourself going hungry for a few days. Tribe-specific roles Icewings Each raft must have a minimum of 3-5 IceWings on it, depending on size. Their frostbreath means that they are able to repair damage done to the raft fairly quickly, and it's important to have them to repair any smount of damage before it begins to add up. IceWings will still take up other jobs on the raft, but it's important to always have at least one of them doing a non-crucial task that can be dropped immediately if needs be. RainWings The RainWings' colour-changing ability makes them useful for communicating between rafts quickly. If a message needs to be sent, a RainWing can fly up and change their scales to an eye-bleedingly bright colour to quickly grab attention. Most messages can be sent with a simply full-body colour (for example, red means that danger has been spotted, yellow means that their raft is heading back), but some RainWings are trying to devise different patterns of colours that can be used to send more complex messages. SilkWings The silk this tribe was named after has proved to be a great asset for life on the rafts - it can be made into nets to make fishing easier, bandages in a pinch, and rope to make the storage of salvaged items easier. Any SilkWing on their raft will have an important role thanks to this, and like IceWings, there should always be at least one ready to help with repairs if needs be. Others Fire-breathing dragons can be called aside by the raft's cook to help them, whether it be for help preparing something or to boil water. While these may seem like menial tasks, it's actually incredibly important to be able to boil salt water - desalination makes water drinkable for non-SeaWings, and without it dragons would quickly get sick. One of the most important parts of any raft is the desalination vats - salt water is collected in one, and heated until it evaporates. The vapour will move up into a tube between the two vats, where it will eventually cool and some of the condensed water will drop into the second vat. It isn't the most effective method, but done with large enough quantities of salt water, it produces enough water for everyone to drink. This method is also used to obtain safe drinking water in the mountains. Less important jobs are typically taken up by all dragons, such as the cleaning and storage of salvaged items. Characters that exist within this AU Royalty -Queen Submerge of the SeaWings -Princess Sixgill of the SeaWings -Prince Cuttlefish of the SeaWings -Queen Blackpoll of the SkyWings -Queen Thaw of the IceWings Purebreds -Elk of the IceWings -Egret of the MudWings -Pleco of the SeaWings -Reticulated of the RainWings -Soar of the SkyWings -Angler of the NightWings Hybrids -Uluru of the Sand/SkyWings -Liparis of the Ice/SeaWings -Aurelia of the Sea/RainWings -Hatchetfish of the Sea/NightWings -Geyser of the Mud/SeaWings -Amphibian of the Mud/SeaWings -Caddisfly of the Hive/SeaWings -Sea Lion of the Ice/SeaWings -Plunder of the Sea/NightWings Category:Collaborations Category:Alternate Universes Category:Content (DarkusDragon)